The Martyr of Middle-Earth
by TheEvangelineCrimson
Summary: When Scarlett was younger, she always wanted to go on adventures. When she falls into a new world and befriends Gandalf, she is able to live her childhood dream. But now, 150 years later, she is about to go on the largest adventure of her life. Will she be able to handle the strikingly handsome dwarf king, Thorin Oakenshield? Or will this adventure prove to be to be her last?
1. Wake Up Call

**Okay duckies, this is the ThorinXOC that I have promised you. I know I have been busy but I really wanted to get this idea out there so it stops invading my dreams. I will still be updating my other story. There may be other stories uploading soon, though. I'll have a lot more free time after finals. I love you duckies. Please review.**

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The pain in my head was unbearable. It was like I had the grandmother of all hangovers. Ugh. "Well, hello," I hear a soft voice call out. I scrunch my face up and slit my eyes open. The world ran in streamers of color before focusing. The light immediately washed over my face causing me to groan and roll over. "It hurts…" I groan out at the stranger. Probably someone from the party. Wait. Party? I thought I went to bed at home.

I opened my eyes again and was left staring down into the soft grass I was laying on. I tilted my head to the side to look at the stranger who disturbed my miserable slumber and only saw the bottom of a grey cloak. Huh. I glanced up at the stranger's face. He tilted his head to the side like he was studying me. Then he smiled. "Well, you seem to be in pain," he stated with a knowing smile. Uh, you think buddy? Got any other helpful statements? I frowned up at him. "You think?" I asked sarcastically before attempting to get up. The pain behind my eyes immediately exploded. I fell back down to the ground; covering my face with my hands. "Oh, god!" I yell, then groan as it hurt even worst.

I feel soft, gentle hands cup my head but it hurts too much to care. He could be a serial killer for all I care right now. The stranger's fingers press into my temples and soon, the pain dims before disappearing altogether. My eyes widen in shock as I, carefully, lift my head up to inspect my savior. The man was old, like crazy old. But he had a kind smile on his face that was borderline amused. "I take it you were drinking ale last night." It wasn't a question. I nod my head slowly; expecting pain but none comes. I smile slightly in relief before getting to my feet.

I look at the strange man and thrust my hand out to him. "The name is Scarlett," I say with a cocky smile. The man shakes his head slightly, giving me an amused smile. "I am Gandalf the Grey," he says while taking my hand in a firm grasp. I shake his hand before letting go and looking around. I appeared to be in a forest of some kind. Must have been some party. I can't even remember it. I looked at Gandalf again. He was studying me while frowning. "You mind telling me here I am?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Well, you are just outside of Bree," he says while watching me closely. Bree? I've never heard that place before. I frown at him. "Is this a joke?" I ask. "Did Timmy set you up for this?" He shakes his head and looks around.

"How old are you, young lady?" he asks. This immediately puts my guard up. I thrust my chin up and give him defiant eyes. "Why does it matter?" I ask defiantly. He looks at me cautiously before looking around the forest again. He started muttering to himself while looking at the sky and the ground where I was laying. Then all of a sudden, he relaxed and smiled while shaking his head. "Okay, well I guess you are going to have to come with me," he said while picking up his staff. I take a step back, tensing. "What do you mean?" I ask cautiously. He could have been a serial killer when my head was exploding. Now, it would be a problem. He watched me step back and tense with an amused expression. "Do not worry. I would never hurt you, child. You are going to have to have someone take care of you though," he said while fixing his hat.

I glared at him. "Do. Not. Call. Me. A. Child," I say through clenched teeth. He just gave me an amused grin. "Well, it would be improper for a 17 year old girl to be walking around here; especially in a world she does not know," he said while glancing back up at the sky. How did he know I was 17? His tone made me suspicious. It was like he knew something I didn't. I frowned at him, focusing on the more important part of his sentence. "What do you mean by a world I do not know?" I ask while eyeing him cautiously. He smiled kindly but his eyes held slight pity. "You are not in your world anymore. I am afraid you have fallen into mine. And as a wizard, it is my responsibility to take care of things regarding magic," he said matter-of-factly. Magic? Was this guy crazy?

"Well, since you are crazy, it would seem that would not be the best option," I say while watching his staff. "Besides, I am highly capable of taking care of myself." He frowned. "I believe you could take care of yourself here, with a little training. However, seeing how you do not have any, I will take care of you," he said before turning around and walking away. He only walked a few yards before turning back to me. "Are you coming?" he asks. I think it was a rhetorical question. I glare at him before replying. "No." He sighs and mutters to himself some more before walking back over to me.

My first instinct is to back up but I stand my ground. I can't act like a sissy in front of the crazy guy. I watch him walk up to me. "Well, since you will not be convinced; you may listen to reason," he said. I raise my eyebrows and smirk. He raised his hand towards my head. I immediately jerked my head back. He sighed impatiently before touching the side of my face. "I do not have time for this, child. I have another engaging matter," he said impatiently. I frown at him. "Well why don't you go do tha-" Before I was able to finish my sentence, I was bombarded with information. Memories. Fact. I knew it was all real. I could see myself at home. Eating. At parties over the years. It was like a slide show of my life. Then it turned into a swirl of color and suddenly I saw myself laying on the ground. In Bree. It was like I fell out of the sky.

I stumbled back from Gandalf's hand. He was watching me with a grim expression. "What.. What was that?" I gasped out. He shook his head. "That was your past. Now you have to decide your future." I shook my head and sunk to the ground, still gasping for breath. He watched me for a moment before turning around. "I am leaving. I have pressing matters in Bree that require my attention. Whether or not you follow is your decision. You choose your path," he said while walking away down the dirt path. I watched him leave, before putting my head between my knees. My mind was racing from the experience. Should I go with him or not?

It didn't take long to catch up with him on the path. I guess it helped because I was screaming for him to wait up. He stopped on the path and turned to watch me run towards him. When I finally got to his side, I was gasping for breath. "You.. You can't just leave somebody like that," I say while watching him. He smiles in amusement. "If I am going to follow you, we're gonna have to set dome rules," I state firmly. He chuckles and continues to walk down the path. I follow right beside him. "Oh, I think this is going to work out. Besides, I need someone to adventure with," he says with a laugh. I look at him from the corner of my eye. Follow the crazy guy? What have I gotten myself into? Well, I always did say that I wanted to go on an adventure.


	2. Meeting the Target

**Finally done with school! Unfortunately, I still have summer work to do for an Advanced Placement course. Yay for me! I feel like I should let you guys know that I bought a pet rat. His name is Benedict Cumberbatch; after the god of an actor. So, he is the reason I haven't been updating. He's just too cute not to have out all of the time. However, he is naughty and I have to watch him like a hawk. (No pun intended) He is sleeping now, though. So here is my lovely, late update. I hope you enjoy, duckies! Please review and critique. Love you!**

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_120 years later_

"Gandalf, give me back that scroll!" I scream as I run around the table after him. Damn the old wizard. This is just what he likes to do; cause mischief. "Young Scarlett, we have work to do," he said with a chuckle. "We must be on our way to the Shire. There is no time to finish this scroll. Maybe later." I cross my arms and glare at him for a few minutes. He sighs and shakes his head. "Fine, Miss Scarlett. We will take it with on the way." I smile and nod my head in agreement before turning on my heel and going in to my room. That was the best I was going to get. I had years of experience in Gandalf's stubbornness to know this.

I start to pack up my bag which I was carrying with me. He had been muttering about the Shire for months before finally telling me about the quest we were about to embark on. With over a hundred years of training and expertise under my belt, I was allowed to tag along. I smiled; thinking of how far I had come from the ignorant young woman I once was. A child, at best. Now, I have matured and know better. Although, my looks have stayed the same. Apart from my longer hair which flowed like a vibrant fire down my back. It reached the back of my knees and ran in untamable curls. I sighed as I put it in a braid and wrapped it several times so that it stayed. It was unmanageable, but beautiful. The hair was how I get my name.

"Scarlett, we must be going," Gandalf yelled from outside. I shook my head with a smile. If we are speaking of unmanageable things, the old wizard comes up on the top of the list. I grabbed my bag and headed outside. "Okay, let's go," I said while passing Gandalf and jumping up on my horse, Alina. He shook his head and got on his horse. I guess he had enough experience with me to know that I would always win in a contest of wit. I smirked as I looked at him. The signs of aging were not too visible in him, either. "Is there a problem, Scarlett?" Gandalf asked with a smirk. "Why don't I age properly?" I asked without missing a beat. He just smiled and looked around at the trees before replying. "I have a feeling that you were needed for something here. Plus, this is a totally different universe. Your body may be adjusting to the environment." I thought his response over before replying with a, "Huh."

The rest of the journey to the Shire was spent in silence. We had travelled much before so there was no need to speak. Just companionable silence. The journey lasted two weeks before we finally reached the Shire. I finished the old scroll by the first day. The rest of the journey was spent practicing subtle magic that Gandalf revealed I had. He had been teaching me since I turned 18. I tried several different tricks on him, like having birds drop things on him. Each time, he just chuckled softly and looked over at me. I gave him an innocent expression that I had mastered.

Gandalf said that I have a natural talent for Earth magic. We saw the brown wizard, though I forget his name, and he said that I was very powerful if I learned how to unleash and control the magic. That was not happening any time soon. I still had to further my knowledge in so many subjects and gain experience in others. So much to do, so little time.

When Gandalf's horse stopped at the beginning of the Shire, Alina automatically halted. Gandalf turned around with a mischievous smile on his face. "Let's go see who will join us on our adventure," he said with a laugh. I joined him whole-heartedly. Oh, some poor little hobbit was going to be in for a wild ride. We left our horses to graze outside of the little village and entered. Every time we passed a hobbit hole, the hobbits outside would wave. I was refreshing to see such happy people. I stopped to accept flowers from a little hobbit boy. When I looked ahead, Gandalf was speaking to someone at the top of the hill. I smiled at the little boy and brushed the dirt off of my knees. As I was coming up the hill, I heard the hobbit telling Gandalf 'no'. I chuckled to myself. Like Gandalf was going to accept 'no' for an answer. When I reached Gandalf's side, I could get a better look at the hobbit.

He was a bit shorter than me, but he had huge hairy feet. He looked nice enough, although a little posh. When he saw me, he immediately stopped speaking. In fact, he looked like he swallowed his tongue. I looked at Gandalf in confusion. "Oh yes, this is Scarlett. She will be joining us on the adventure; should you choose to go," Gandalf said to the hobbit. "This is Bilbo Baggins. He will be accompanying us on an adventure," Gandalf said to me. This shook Bilbo out of his stupor. "What? No, I am not going on an adventure. Good day!" He said while shutting his front door. Gandalf moved forward and drew a symbol on the door. I watched and laughed. Oh poor Bilbo Baggins. He doesn't know what he's in for.

When Gandalf finished, he cheerily walked down to the pub with me where we spent the rest of the day talking about how I was going to control my magic. It was still new to me; even after 100 years. However when it became evening, we parted ways and agreed to meet at Bilbo's house. I walked down to Alina and made sure she had water and an apple. I brushed her shiny coat and cleaned her hooves. When she bumped my neck and nickered, I had to giggle. That was when I noticed someone aimlessly walking the paths of the Shire. I cocked my head in confusion. Alina followed the example which made me laugh. Oh, it was freeing to be able to just laugh at everything.

I gave Alina one last stroke and walked up the path toward the confused stranger. When I drew near, I noticed that the stranger was a dwarf. "Hello," I said to him. That seemed like a good place to start. He looked at me in surprise. He was only a few inches taller than I was. Plus he was strikingly handsome. "Hello," he replied in a deep voice. I shivered. No! Bad Scarlett! No cookie! "Are you lost?" I asked him. "Maybe I can help you." He stared at me for a minute before nodding slightly. Oh. So he had an easily wounded pride. I mean, it was only help that I was offering. I sighed. "Okay… Who are you looking for?" I asked, trying to get something out of this guy. His eyes darted around us quickly in the darkness before he replied. "Gandalf," he said in an annoyed tone. Ah, so he must be with the Company. I put on a bright smile before linking my arm with his. "Well sir, I think I can help you with that," I said cheerily while leading him toward Bilbo's house. When we arrived at the door, he knocked with precision. I raised my eyebrows and smiled.

The door opened and a frazzled-looking Bilbo greeted us. I smiled at Bilbo and walked in, hanging up my cloak in the process. It was, of course, vibrant red. I spotted Gandalf and made my way over to him. "Why are you late?" he asked in a whisper. "I was helping that member of the Company," I whispered back. He glanced over at the stranger I helped. Then he smiled and whispered, "That is Thorin Oakenshield; leader of the Company." I quickly glanced over to see Thorin looking at us with an odd expression on his face. I gave him a little finger-wave which caused him to jerk his head and go back to talking with his people. I exchanged a glance with Gandalf before smiling wickedly. Oh yes, Thorin Oakenshield would be a fun target to mess with on this journey.


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